


i'd be the prom queen (if crying was a contest)

by rosepetal05



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: ?? - Freeform, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Musical: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, Not Canon Compliant, Songfic, i just added 'hatchetfield' to my google docs personal dictionary how are you doing?, i wrote this whilst pretending to take notes in school, pure fluff there is no plot, this isn't very edited, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosepetal05/pseuds/rosepetal05
Summary: Emma's had a pretty rough prom night. Then the boy turns up.
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	i'd be the prom queen (if crying was a contest)

**Author's Note:**

> I guess it's a High School AU? Also if someone could teach me how to use ao3 that would be really helpful i have no idea what is happening.
> 
> (title and inspiration? from mxmtoons 'prom dress')
> 
> Enjoy!

Emma Perkins stumbled out of the school gym, the cool night’s air a stark contrast to the hot and sweaty event inside. The door slammed shut, cutting out the noise of pounding music and awkward conversations inside. The silence hung in the air, a welcome reprieve from the non-stop craziness of the night. Emma took a heaving breath as she slid down the cold concrete wall onto the floor, leaning forward to rest her head on her knees. The soft satin fabric of her dress pooled around her, the slit up the left side allowing the dark red fabric to spread like blood around her legs. She sniffed, tears slowly dripping down her face and splashing on the concrete. 

The sound of light footsteps made her look up. A tall, gangly looking boy was standing in front of her, gazing at her with curiosity. He was wearing an impeccable, wrinkle-free blue suit, and his hair was slicked back with an almost alarming amount of gel. She rubbed her eyes, drawing her hand back to reveal a dark line of mascara across her hand. Not like her make up wasn’t already running down her face in a hot streaky mess. 

“Hello?” she asked, attempting to keep her voice light. The boy’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected her to see him standing right in front of her. 

“Uh-hi,” the boy looked around nervously, rocking back and forward on his heels, “are you okay?”  
Emma let out a harsh chuckle. 

“Do I look like I’m okay?” she asked incredulously, gesturing to her red eyes and smudged make-up.

“I don’t think I’ll answer that.”  
He gestured towards the empty space next to her, and she nodded, scooting over slightly to make room for him to sit. As he sat down, she looked at him carefully. His wild blue eyes were probably his most notable feature. They were a clear blue, like the sky on a perfect, sunny day. Weirdly, they were comforting, almost familiar, though Emma was sure she had never met the boy in her life. He awkwardly shrugged his jacket off, having to lean really far forward in order to get it off of his long arms. Once he finally got it off, he wrapped it around her shoulders. She gave him a small grateful smile. She didn’t realise how chilly the night was until she was wrapped up in the warmth of the jacket, which smelt lightly of cologne and old paper. She nestled further into the material. 

“Seriously, do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Emma blinked in surprise. Did she want to talk about it? She hadn’t talked about anything in a while, really. She often felt like she was her cupboard at home after her mum had screamed at her to clean up her room. Doors strained, barely able to contain the random mess stuffed within. She was leaning against the doors, forcing them closed to stop anything from slipping out. But when this boy asked her, genuinely asked her, if she wanted to talk, Emma realised how much she wanted to let her problems escape. 

So she stepped away from the door.

She told him about how she had come with her boyfriend, who was really the only person in school she could tolerate, and spent the night hanging out with him and his stupid friends. The group had had a bit to drink, and while Emma could handle it pretty well, the boys could not. She told him that her boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, had decided that prom would be the perfect place to dump her, and then promptly ditched her in the middle of the hot and sweaty crowd. How all she wanted to do was talk to her sister, but Jane was too busy fawning over stupid Tom Houston to notice her little sister lost in the stampede of (mostly drunk) teenagers. How she had been surrounded by a sea of people, but she had never felt so alone. 

As she talked, the boy listened. He actually listened to a random girl who was crying outside the school gym. He never interrupted her, simply nodding and occasionally humming in agreement to something she had said. Emma was never one for oversharing, preferring to lurk at the sides of rooms and keep to herself, but she surprisingly found it nice to be able to talk, to let all of her thoughts out to a welcoming audience. 

“Huh. that sucks,” he said after she was done. HIs eyes were still firmly trained on her. Emma let out a weak chuckle, suddenly weirded out about what she had just done.

“Why don’t I know you?” she inquired in an attempt to deflect from her massive emotional dump, “I haven’t seen you around school before.”

“Oh, you probably go to Hatchetfield High-” she nodded “-I go to Sycamore,” he explained, “I came here with Jennifer.”

“Fucking Timberwolves!” she roared, an unsaid comment hanging in the air.

“Yeah, we hate ourselves,” he stated matter-of-factly, as if telling her that the sky was blue, or that Tom Houston was a popular jerk. It made her cackle, swaying on her crossed legs as she slapped his arm lightly. The boy laughed too, awkwardly, but laughing along nonetheless. His laugh was pleasant to listen to, though it sounded like he was holding it back. Emma absent-mindedly wondered what it would sound like at full force. That moment, the two of them laughing under the moonlight, almost made Emma forget that she had been dumped 10 minutes ago. 

They were interrupted by the sound of a screeching microphone from inside the gym. The steady pulse of music and loud yelling came to a halt.

“Now it’s what you’ve all been waiting for!” a voice laced with forced cheer boomed, “It’s time to announce this year’s prom queen and king!”

A cheer arose from the gathered students. Emma groaned audibly, leaning her head against the wall and rolling her eyes. 

“This year's prom king is... Tom Houston!

Cue a loud roar from within the gym. Emma rolled her eyes even harder, bringing her hand up to her face and making a gagging gesture. The boy, bless his heart, joined in, even though he, unlike Emma, had no personal vendetta against Tom. He probably didn’t even know who this Houston boy was, but Emma appreciated the solidarity. 

“And this year’s queen of the school is… Becky Barnes!”

If there was one thing worse than Tom Houston getting crowned prom king, it was Becky Barnes getting crowned prom queen. The deafening squeals of excitement, no doubt coming from Becky’s posse, that passed through the doors were an abomination. A bird that had been sitting on a nearby tree squawked in surprise, flying away into the night. Emma wished she could do the same. Maybe she would bring the boy. Maybe. 

“Wow. The quarterback and the head cheerleader,” she noted dryly, “how original, Hatchetfield High!”

“I think it should have been you,” the boy said softly. Emma turned to him in surprise. She blinked, stunned and confused. Luckily, she managed to quickly compose herself, clearing her throat.

“Yeah right. What would I say when I went up to get my crown?” she joked forcibly, “Thank you for voting me the biggest sob story of prom!”

“I think you deserve a prize after everything you’ve been through tonight.”

Though she would never admit it, Emma almost teared up again right there and then. It was definitely the booze, and not the fact that this boy was being so sweet to her, a random crying girl who he could have easily avoided. Yup, the booze was messing with her tear ducts. 

“Thank you. So much” she said simply. What she was thankful for, she didn’t think she could put into words. But she was pretty sure he got the idea. The boy’s eyes widened comically. 

“Oh-uh, it’s no problem at all,” he managed to choke out, wincing slightly after he spoke, “Anyone would have come and comforted a pretty girl sitting on the floor by herself.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“WHa-no! I mean, yes, of course, but I didn’t mean it like that-” he spluttered. Emma gave him an amused look, prompting him to make the wise decision to shut up.

“I’m sorry,” he said meekly. His flushed face, accompanied by his still wide eyes, was so comically cute that Emma had to fight the urge to laugh. He was toying at the sleeves of his white shirt, grasping at them as if they would save him from the situation.

“Don’t be-” she trailed off, looking at him with inquiring eyes.

“Paul,” he supplied quickly.

Emma smiled. It suited him. An unassuming name for an unassuming person. She stuck her hand out to him.

“Hi Paul. I’m Emma”

Paul took her hand, shaking it gently. He didn’t let go. She didn’t either. 

“Do you want to stay out here for a while?” she asked. Paul nodded quickly, and Emma could have sworn he looked relieved. Emma hugged Paul’s suit jacket tighter around her, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. Paul tensed for a moment before reciprocating, wrapping his arm around her body. They sat there in silence, looking up at the night sky. The noises from the prom inside had long faded, and it felt like they were the only people that existed. And Emma thought that maybe prom night wasn’t that bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! I hope you enjoyed :)  
> Can you tell i'm not American and have no idea how a prom works?
> 
> I want to make friends! Comment or come to my Tumblr1 (how do you make a link pls help me)  
> Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/rosepetal05  
> pls say hi  
> ok ily tysm for reading!


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